Kata Tjuta and the Valley of Sniffs

 

Monday 25 July 2022 – Kata Tjuta and the Valley of Sniffs

A very early alarm this morning and we were all in the trusty Land Rover  by 6.30am to head out to the sunrise viewing point halfway between Kata Tjuta and Uluru.  That way we could see the sun come up behind Uluru and then spread its creeping tendrils of light across the desert floor until it lit up the face of Kata Tjuta.  It was really cold and all the people on the viewing platform (and there were a lot of them!) were rugged up to the nines.  Larry’s was not the only Big Freeze beanie up there!  It was very spectacular and well worth the early morning start and we were glad we had made the effort.

Drove on and in to Kata Tjuta with a quick stop at the toilets as our on-the-go coffees had worked their way through by this time.  A queue there as a bus load of tourists got there before us and although the toilets were marked male and female there were plenty of women in the men’s queue!

We drove on to the Valley of the Winds and hiked up to the first viewing point.  You can certainly see, sorry feel, how it gets its name as an arctic gale whistled through the valley and hit us in the face.  The walk was very quickly renamed valley of the sniffs as the cold wind made our eyes run and our noses stream!  It was a very pretty walk up to the view point, however, and the red rock faces and blue skies are quite reminiscent of the Bungles.

Made our way back down and then decided another quick trip back to the toilets was in order – something about the cold weather? – where we were amused to see that someone had swapped the male and female toilet signs over so obviously it really hadn’t mattered what queue you had been standing in previously anyway!

We next headed to the Walpa walk gorge which was equally cold and windy but also equally visually stunning with soaring red cliffs to either side of us.  There were quite a few bus loads of tourists on the path but H&M say Yulara is significantly quieter than the other times they have been here so I would hate to see just how busy it all gets once the lingering effects of Covid are over.  We have done a fair amount of walking this morning (Larry’s watch says over 10,000 steps whilst Jen’s has shut down in either shock or with a dodgy battery) so time to head back to the van with a quick stop at IGA for fresh, crusty bread.

It was still cool enough to warrant hot soup to go with the fresh crusty bread for lunch and then the effects of an early morning and full stomachs was too much and it was time for an afternoon nap.  Then another couple of industrious hours of blogging before time for more drinkies.  Gotta love being on holiday!  Much cooler tonight so M’s shepherds pie and a glass or two of port went down a treat.